A visor assembly is traditionally positioned in the passenger compartment of an automobile at an upper corner of a headliner. Functionally, the visor assembly may be pivoted from a stowed position about the headliner to a lowered position about the windshield to shield a passenger's eyes from sun and glare. In addition to screening sun and glare from a passenger's eyes, it is known that conventional visor assemblies include additional accessories, such as mirrors, lights and the like. The additional accessories add cost and weight to the visor assembly, but also add conveniences that automobile passengers appreciate and pay for in luxury upgrades.
Additionally, it has become common practice for vehicle operators and passengers to use visor assemblies for the purpose of loosely storing items against the headliner such as, for example, papers, parking garage receipts, maps, and the like, when the visor assembly is positioned in the stowed position against the headliner. However, when the visor assembly is deployed downwardly against the windshield, the loosely-stowed items typically fall to the floor. To overcome this problem, conventional visor assemblies have been developed to include an elastic band, or the like, to positively secure items to the visor assembly such that when the visor assembly is deployed from the stowed position against the headliner to an in-use position against the windshield, the items are held in place about the visor assembly.
Recently, aftermarket ‘add on’ visor assembly accessories have been developed to function in the stowage of items about the visor assembly. Examples of an ‘add on’ visor assembly accessory directed to the stowage of compact discs are described in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/0183667 and U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 432,490 and 453,728. Such aftermarket storage cases include a plurality of storage receptacles that promote open access, stowage, and protection of the compact discs when the visor is stowed against the headliner, or, alternatively, when the visor is deployed about the windshield.
Known aftermarket compact disc storage cases have a number of disadvantages. First, the storage cases are typically bulky and add weight to the visor assembly, and because most visor assemblies are not designed or manufactured with the intent to withstand such applied additional weight, some visor assemblies may not support the ‘add-on’ storage case with its contents, which results in the inadvertent deployment of the visor against the windshield. When deployed without notice against the windshield, the visor assembly may undesirably reduce an operator's visibility. Additionally, straps that are used to secure the storage case to the visor assembly may damage the outer surfaces of the visor. For example, the straps may wear the vinyl, leather, or cloth material covering the visor assembly, such that undesirable strap impressions or slits are left in the visor assembly material when the storage case is removed. Even further, the straps may not be positively secured, or, in another situation, be long enough to accommodate most visor assemblies, thereby creating a dangerous operating situation if the straps should fail. Failure of the straps would result in the storage case plummeting from the visor assembly and causing a distraction to the vehicle operator.
Thus, there remains a need to produce a visor assembly that provides storage for materials, such as compact discs, but does not damage the visor assembly, place a potentially damaging load on the visor assembly, or inadvertently reduce visibility of the operator, which may be caused when the visor assembly is inadvertently moved by gravity from a stowed position to a deployed position.